Building a FUME EXTRACTION System for Metal Arc Spraying! | Shop Made Tools

Ever wondered what it's like to build your own industrial-grade fume and particle extraction system? Well, we did! We started from scratch with some pressed sheets and a whole lot of DIY enthusiasm and turned it into a powerhouse capable of handling the intense fumes generated by our Metal Arc Spray machine! Watch as we construct the main body, deflector shield, and filter box, all welded together with precision. We also build a sturdy frame to support the entire system. Once it's assembled, we give it a fresh coat of paint and add the finishing touches, including castor wheels, extraction fan and filter. The moment of truth arrives as we test our shop made extractor with acetylene smoke and then put it to the ultimate test against our Metal Arc Spray machine. Will it effectively capture the particles and extract the fumes? Tune in to see the results!

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We're a down-to-earth real life machining and fabrication workshop in Australia. We specialise in helping business in mining and earthmoving to keep their machines running smoothly. We love working on broken parts and the bigger the better! We upload new videos every week showcasing machining, welding, line boring, honing and all the other awesome stuff that goes down in our workshop. Learn how we tackle different projects and see the satisfaction of creating something useful. Subscribe to stay updated on our latest jobs and projects! Follow us on Patreon for even more content and behind-the-scenes glimpses or find us on Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram for a chance to connect with us.

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[CuttingEdgeEngineering]

We're excited to get this system built, setup and running so we can continue making the most out of our new metal arc spray machine! Something we'll probably look at changing in the future is the exhaust fan to one with more performance and higher airflow volume - but now that you've seen how it's done, let us know any suggestions for improvements in the comment section!😉👍
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✍Leave a comment below with your questions or thoughts.

[nighttrain]

Am I the only welder that shuts his eyes when Kurtis is tacking stuff together. I know I won’t get arc eye from 12000 miles away but habits die hard.❤️🇬🇧

[a-aron]

The deflection shield is actually genius, I'm a hvac tech and a cone in the centre would actually make all fume extractors more effective by reducing the extract area to increase the perimeter airflow, massively increasing your capture velocity near the edges which is exactly what you want. I'm gonna test it out myself in work to measure the differences and do some smoke visuals. Thanks a bunch!

[oldtruckswork]

Nice project. I always enjoy your shop built tools. Couple of comments if I may.
1. Filters are only really effective up to about 500 feet/min. You will of course get particulate in there, but its really just catching the big stuff and acting as a spark arrestor. A better material selection would be metal mesh filter material. I can foresee some hot material falling on that carbon filter material and causing it to smoke. If the embers make it through the filter material (and they will), it'll burn holes in your flex ducting. That material is probably fire resistant and self extinguishing so you won't have an active fire, but pinholes in the ducting reduces the draw by the fan as the pinholes leak air into the duct.
2. That center deflector isn't really doing anything to enhance the draw of your air intake. If you had mounted the exhaust fan intake behind the deflector plate, you would get more even draw around the plate. as it is you are really only drawing off the bottom and any smoke and material that is at the top of the hood is probably escaping as there isn't adequate velocity at the top of the plate to draw it down other than particulate by gravity or deflection.
3. The fan static available by those small blowers is low and the pressure drop induced by the fan flex ducting is high. You will get better performance overall out of the fan if you stretch out the duct to make it as smooth as possible.
4. When using a distributor/deflector plate like that, you typically want to have the air velocity at gap between the hood and the plate at 100 ft/min or more. This ensures a good 'draw' at that gap. Again, your air intake is at the bottom rather than the back, so you aren't getting much performance from anything other than the bottom.

In the end, you have something that works for you and is MUCH better than where you were before. Keep up the good work!

[marioduarte]

Hi Curtis, as a CEE fan I would like to make a suggestion: If you reverse things, leaving the exhaust fan at the source and not at the end of the duct, the efficiency will be much greater. Congratulations and greetings from Brazil

[cranefly]

The accuracy of your work, and the care you so obviously take, is brilliant. I’m an old f*rt from the U.K. who can’t knock a nail straight into a piece of wood and I’m in absolute awe of your skills. I watch a lot of YouTube videos, and yours are definitely up there in my top five - if not in my top one! Karen’s skill in her camera work and editing never seems to get the recognition it deserves. Thank you, Karen. Without you, this channel wouldn’t be what it is. Excellent work!

[gordonagent]

Holy crap Batman, if this is just an extraction fan shroud I can’t wait for the Franna crane cab, guards and other tin work on that will look like. Job turned out awesome Kurtis, one thing I love about you mate is you do everything spot on, no short cuts and it reflects in your products and finishes, much like Karen with her editing. Have a great weekend guys

[adriaanbooysen]

Hi Curtis, Adriaan from South Africa. I did a lot of arc spraying on a lathe before. I made a long bracket from the lathe saddle to mount the gun. I fixed the trigger with a cable tie. Used the feed of the lathe, and I had good results with a consistent layers. Just an idea for big and long shafts. Nice program.

[mausewix]

You make a lot of tools yourself in order to be able to carry out corresponding jobs.
I really appreciate that, here in Germany you often hear the saying that workshops can't do things because they don't have the machine, the tools or the staff that could do something like that. Especially when things get a little more complicated.
You have the complete package, an extremely talented craftsman, a suitable machine park and if something doesn't fit, it will be made to fit.
I'm really impressed.

[DennisEBridges]

Your whole shop is a testament to your life, work in progress, never done just advancing. Well going:)

[dah]

I shall never do any grinding or welding, nor make my own videos, but it's just a pleasure to see two experts at work.

[ijontichy]

Hello Kurtis! I worked as a CNC bending machine operator for almost 20 years. From practice, I admit that bending these types of elements at angles different from 90 degrees was an art. The final effect during assembly often required the intervention of a hammer. Good job! 😊👍

[jenksify]

When Kurtis was standing there holding the sprayer he looked like a poster boy for a space video game with a spaceman firing his ray gun. Patent this design quickly before someone else does.

[MrFuzzyFreak]

if it ever falls short on extraction maybe some fold out or slide out wings & roof to get the low pressure draft area closer to the work. love to see the filter maintenance made easier with a couple binder clips holding the door on instead of threaded fasteners. might be able to increase flow by corrugating the filter between the mesh, just bend the mesh into the shape and squish the filter media in between to add surface area, the space is available in the filter box so why not?

[briandolbec]

@CuttingEdgeEngineering Great extraction hood. As a retired HVAC mechanic. I can suggest a few small upgrades to improve it. On the bottom filter opening, if you add a small lip (20-30 mm, 1 banana) up into the hood area, it will stop pulling in more of the metal particles into the filter, keeping them in the bottom and still keep cleanup easy. It may also help pull slightly more air from the top. Of course an even taller lip will help pull more air from the top For your filter, it looks like a standard 2 inch height. If you make a pleated filter frame, it will increase the filter material area lowering the pressure drop across it, increasing air flow. That also slows air flow through the filter which can improve its filtering ability and increase run time before clogging. Lastly, I saw that a lot of the spray was deflecting upwards, perhaps an extended top to over the lathe could help reduce cleanup around the lathe, pull more into the hood.

Great video as

If you need any advise on how to make a pleated filter frame, Thin flat stock made to fit inside your filter box, weld small round bar staggered top/bottom, in from top/bottom the thickness of the filter material, end bars in about 10 mm from sides/middle of height to allow room for the paper clamps Then you weave the filter material around them, just use paper clamps or thin aluminum strips pinched on at the ends to hold it in pace. Weld on a pull handle for removal instead of that cover.

[ilaril]

You've made the Friday morning my favorite time! Coffee watching Kurtis do his magic! Cheers from 🇫🇮

[tonyn]

One thing I appreciate about your videos is and explanation of a problem, a voice-over during the process and a final resolution to an issue and even testing of the construction when it's feasible. I feel most of us dislike multi-part videos a week apart. At least for me, multi-part videos when followed up each day with another episode is much preferred. Thanks.

[gondolajesus]

everyone's heard the old adage "a grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't" but I'll be damned if you aren't the welder we all aspire to be😁
Cheers from an aspiring young machinist (and big fan of your work) in Massachusetts, USA!

[nuclearusa]

Awesome build! Just a couple of suggestions from an HVAC guy stateside:

I'd really suggest using an aluminum metal mesh filter for this application. These are typically seen as pre-filters for a makeup air ventilation unit. Carbon filters are for air cleaning; you only need to use them for odor removal and only if your system is discharging the air back into the occupied space. As far as I can see, you are only using the filter to prevent particulate buildup in the suction tube and on the fan blade; a metal mesh filter will do just fine for that purpose, and it has the added benefit of being washable, they are also low-restriction filters that don't dramatically decrease airflow.

Would also suggest moving the suction hose connection to the rear of the hood behind the deflector. From what I observed, a significant amount of fumes/overspray is going towards the top of the shell. However, as built, the vast majority of the air is going to be brought in through the bottom below the deflector. You'll get really poor capture for any smoke and fumes approaching the top edge. Might try putting in a short extension to lift the intake above the bottom edge of the deflector, and end it at a 45°. Should give you a relatively even negative pressure around the deflector, and still keeps the hose connection on the bottom of the shell. I'd mock it up with some cheap sheet metal, and see if it improves performance. This can be verified with an anemometer (wind speed sensor) which are relatively cheap at 30-150 USD, depending on quality.

A good test I'd like to see would be to run the same flame spray test, but with fan turned off. See if you get the same amount of particulate on the bottom of the outer shell. If that's the same, or similar, then its mechanically collecting the overspray by just giving it a place to stop and settle. Of course, some of that is kinda the point, but better airflow around the deflector will improve performance on smoke and fume capture which has a greater effect on perceived air quality.

[JohnHandles]

I know this is a few days late...but I think we can all say thank you to whoever is filming, editing and putting these videos out. Not a lot of people will know how long it takes to film, organise footage, then edit a 53 minute video. It can be as demanding, and time consuming as milling, welding and cutting all the shit we see in the videos. So, again, thank you. You're a star, mate.